Within Ourselves
by Vampiric Charms
Summary: When Lin turned forty, Tenzin left a gift for her. This continued every year – until, of course, he forgot and his whole plan collapsed. Hinted Lin/Tenzin, complete.


**Set between Seasons 1 and 2. You don't have to squint _too_ hard to see Lin/Tenzin in there, but I'm not going to categorize it as such this time. Posted on my AO3 account a while ago. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Within Ourselves<strong>

It had started easily enough, truth be told.

The year he truly noticed no one knew of Lin's birthday was the year she turned forty. There were no excited whispers of parties in the hall behind raised hands when Tenzin was in the precinct the week preceding, no talk of bringing in sweets or balloons, or even anyone reminding one another to wish her a lovely day by the weekend. No one knew.

This revelation did not make him sad, necessarily, or guilty that he had not noticed before – because really, she would not have taken kindly to him wishing her a 'happy birthday' himself by that point – but it filled him with compassion for the friend he had been missing for so long.

His idea of flowers was a simple one, he had thought. Water poppies, deep blue and purple with their soft, fragrant petals, were not her favorite, even if she had mentioned liking them once, long ago. So long ago, in fact, that she would probably not even remember the conversation they'd had about them, that day in the rain by the pond in Ba Sing Se. _Or even if she did,_ his mind continued down the road, _she likely wouldn't consider these a gift from_ him, _of all people. He knew her favorite flower was the tigerdillo lily; surely she would assume he'd gift her those._

Rather than purchasing a bunch from a flower vendor, he simply picked a small handful from the temple gardens on the right morning and brought them into the city with him as he went to work. Slowing his steps to buy just enough time for her to be gone once he arrived, he sent the flowers to her doorstep with a bit of bending, ready to wait until she returned, wrapped in paper to keep them fresh.

Tenzin repeated this the next year, forty-one, and the next, forty-two. Water poppies waited at her door every evening for the next ten years on that day. It felt like a small connection to her again, even if she'd had no idea it was him leaving her the gift.

"Are you done writing that damned proposal yet?"

Lin's voice cut through his thoughts and his eyes darted over to where she was standing at the window of his study, high in the island's temple. Her arms were crossed over her chest, a sour expression pulling her eyebrows downward as she gazed at the very garden he had picked those flowers from off in the distance below.

"I told you not to bother waiting," Tenzin chastised, trying to bring his attention back to the document he was attempting to compose for the council meeting. "I'm not going to be finished for a while yet."

"You _told_ me you needed my signature!" Lin's aggravated sigh was not very well hidden. She shifted her weight to her other foot, the boot clinking softly against the smooth wooden floor. "I liked this office better when it was your father's," she jibed under her breath. "You've turned it into a masterpiece of seriousness, with all the hard chairs and dark furniture. It's stuffy in here."

He frowned at her, ready to throw back a barb about her own workspace, but she wasn't even looking at him. Her interest was still focused on the garden below, where many blossoms were fully flourishing.

"You know," she said suddenly, filling the silence that had fallen with her faraway reflection. "Someone used to leave me flowers every year, for my birthday. They forgot this year."

Tenzin froze, his eyes widening as they lost sight of his ink brush against the paper. A blot formed and he quickly jerked the brush away. "Forgot? Your birthday isn't for another – oh. It was two weeks ago."

She didn't respond, instead angling her body so she could lean against the wall, her back to him. "I hope nothing happened to them, while Amon and his supporters were in control of the city. I never figured out who it was, so it's not like I can track them down now."

He was silent, both angry with himself for forgetting this year – of all years, now that they were actually on good terms again – and surprised that she actually cared about this supposed mystery person. Between everything that had been happening with Korra and the new baby, not to mention the rebuilding of the city now that the council had finally been reformed…he had merely lost sight of time. And with Lin around him, in his life again, it hadn't occurred to him that the flowers even needed to continue at all.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"For what?" Lin asked, turning her head to gaze over her shoulder at him. "I'm being silly, really. They were just flowers. I suppose…I suppose it was just nice, to feel connected to someone, even for one day – even if I had no idea who it was. It was nice to know someone cared."

The sincerity in her words seared him to the core, and he dropped her gaze quickly, unable to hold it without feeling a bit of shame welling in his chest. A hushed stillness had come over him again and, almost frantically, he hurriedly dipped his brush into the ink bowl to continue writing despite not even recalling where he had left off.

"_You_!"

Her sharp snarl caused him drop the brush completely when he jumped, the venom in her voice making him recoil just enough for her to notice as she stomped to his desk.

"It was you this whole time! Wasn't it!"

He didn't answer her question right away, just staring up at her in mild alarm at being caught. When he merely continued gaping, her fury grew until she reached out to grab the collar of his robe and jerk him forward across the desktop. His hands latched to the edge, efficiently stopping most of the movement, but ink still smeared across his stomach to stain yellow fabric.

"Lin -"

"What in the world is wrong with you!" she demanded, the anger evident in her usually masked face when she brought it level with his. Almost as soon as she had snapped, she released him. He pulled away from her immediately to recollect himself, aghast at the black blemishing his once spotless robes. "What…Tenzin, that was…dumb."

"Look who's talking," he muttered, trying in vain to use a puff of air to remove the ink.

Lin glared at him, refusing to apologize for the outburst of temper. "Flowers? After all our time apart, you suddenly started giving me flowers?" She scoffed and shook her head as this information overwrote the last ten years she had been dwelling on. "I don't – don't even know what to say."

"At least I never forgot your birthday. A 'thank you' would suffice."

She snapped a wire at him, ripping the cloth right between his hands and missing his fingers by a hair. "Did you think I'd be _happy_ about this?"

"I don't know, maybe!" Tenzin finally burst, a strong scowl tugging his lips to match hers. "Just a moment ago you were reminiscing about how – how _connected_ those flowers made you feel! Why does that have to change now that you know they came from me?"

"Because you weren't supposed to care anymore!"

He instantly regretted pushing her when he saw the all-too familiar invisible walls falling back into place, cutting her off from him once more. A chasm had opened between them just like that, widened because of his inability to make the proper choices – either now or then. He rushed around the desk, almost desperate in his need to make this right, to bring her back, as he reached for her with one hand.

"Lin, I'm sorry." He was nearly pleading when she stepped back, too far from his grasp. "I never – that was not how I intended any of it to come across, truly. I just, I didn't want you to feel forgotten. That's all."

She snorted at him and, for just a moment, he was afraid she was going to retort with another volley of harsh words. But instead, very slowly, her posture relaxed the slightest bit, his reflecting the motion when her lips quirked in a flat smirk. "You'd have gotten away with it, too, Tenzin."

"I don't understand," he began, baffled.

"If you hadn't overlooked this year's bouquet." She simply shrugged, most of her previous anger spent. "I'd have never brought it up with you."

Tenzin blushed faintly, exhaling through his nose and crossing his arms. "Well, then, I apologize for…missing your birthday this year."

"And I apologize for ripping your clothing."

"What about the ink?"

"That was not my fault," she deadpanned, holding her hands up in front of her in defiance. "You are far too slow when it comes to writing convincing proposals. If you had already finished it, that ink wouldn't have been out at all."

Tenzin just laughed, feeling more like himself again when Lin finally dropped into one of the spindly wooden chairs by the desk and propped her feet up on the desktop before setting him with a hard look.

"Get your ass over here and keep writing. I do _not_ want to miss the last ferry home."

He knew she wouldn't thank him for the flowers, and that was fine. He didn't really care, so long as she was here now. That would always be enough.


End file.
